Quick action helped save lives in destructive Belmar blaze

🔥 A fire broke out at a home in Belmar

🔥 It quickly spread to four homes, destroying three

🔥 Fire officials credit a good Samaritan for lives saved

BELMAR — A two-alarm fire that broke out in Belmar early Sunday morning left three people injured, including a resident and two firefighters, and three homes completely destroyed.

More than 50 firefighters from more than a dozen nearby departments battled the blaze for nearly four hours. It reportedly started as a porch fire just after 6 a.m. at 308 13th Avenue and quickly spread to other houses, according to the Belmar Volunteer Hook and Ladder Fire Company.

Belmar Fire Chief Sean Pringle told NJ.com that things could have been a lot worse if it weren’t for the quick thinking of a good Samaritan.

He said a woman walking her dog called the fire in, then banged on the window and door to alert the resident inside.

The man was able to run outside the house through a back door because intense flames blocked the front door, Pringle told the media outlet. He suffered minor burns and was treated on the scene by EMS.

Two firefighters suffered minor neck injuries and were also treated at the scene, Pringle said.

The chief also said a gas meter on the side of one of the houses exploded, NJ.com reported.

Backup from neighboring fire departments, including Avon, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Wanamassa, Spring Lake Heights, Sea Girt, Manasquan, South Wall, Glendola, and West Belmar, was needed to help put out the massive blaze.

Four houses were affected by the flames. Three are total losses, and a fourth sustained exterior damage, Pringle said.

The cause remains under investigation by the Monmouth County Fire Marshal and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

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